Category Archives: Marvel

Even though it appears Toys R Us is going down like a meteor, they are still getting some exclusives. This time around it the 25th wave and all are Toys R Us Exclusive.

First off the plastic insert. Ooh, there are a lot of extras in this set. Usually when we see exclusives, they are pretty sparse on extra parts. Not this time around. Bare arms and long hair for Chameleon. And on Peter’s side, there is hair, a full mask, a suit coat and arms to go with it. And… a third hand. Hmm, we will get to that in a bit. They both also have a clear stand, and there is a web line curled up behind Peter.

Standing side by side, this is an interesting pairing. Chameleon came about in the very first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #1. But that is not what Spider-Man looked like back then. He didn’t have external web shooters that I know of. The closest I could find was the 1977 TV show that featured external web shooters and a belt. And then he has Spider-Boots on. This is a strange Spider-Man, but I like him. Let’s take a closer look at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man comes out of the box with half a mask on and his Spider-Sense going crazy. This is a great mask because you can have Peter dressed as Peter and still have his Spider-Sense tingling.

Thankfully we also get a full mask for Spider-Man. Nothing is worse than a single use MiniMate. One added accessory, and we are good to go for hours of play.

Now for the fun. Take off the arms, mask and Spider-Boots. Add a suit coat piece, new arms, black shoes, and his hair, and we get a super snazzy looking Peter Parker. He sure knew how to dress back in the day. The blue of his suit matches his other suit. *wink wink* Dress for the job you want. He certainly does dress nicer than a newspaper photographer.

And then there is that extra hand. Ah yes, on the top of the hand, there is a little spider painted on it. It is THE spider that gives Peter his powers. So no you can reenact Amazing Fantasy 15 when Peter first get bitten by the spider.

Chameleon looks great in his green bathrobe and purple ascot. This is a nice change from the recent Marvel Legends release that as a much newer update of the figure, wearing a dark suit. The head looks great in white with only the face painted on.

In the comics, the white face IS Chameleon’s face, and then he puts on someone else’s face over the top of his. That isn’t very logical for the purposes of MiniMates, so in this case you get to take off his face and there is a face underneath. Beautiful eyes, big lips, and dimples? Hmm, there is more to this figure than meets the eye.

Take off the arms, and bathrobe, and replace the arms with bare arms. Add some hair, and you have Peter Parker’s love interest, girl friend, wife, ex-wife, and anything in between, Mary Jane Watson. What a great surprise hiding under there.

Well, I love the Chameleon figure, and of course it is always fun to have a Mary Jane. Along with two great versions of Spider-Man/Peter Parker, so I grabbed a second 2-pack, so I can have all four figures. This is a very impressive start to this Toys R Us Exclusive set. I didn’t think there would be a lot of hope for the rest of the wave comparing to this one, but the other two sets came out really nice. Stay Tuned.

We are getting ever closer to the next Marvel movie – Black Panther. We know from the previews of Avengers: Infinity War, that the warriors of Wakanda play a pretty major role in battling the evil that comes our way. The figures are out for Marvel Legends, and Minimates. I was able to grab all 5 sets in one afternoon, stopping at Toys R Us and then Walgreens on my way home from work a few weeks back. There are only the five sets between the two stores. Comic stores only got the 4 pack this time around. Really good for those of us who do not have a comic store nearby that will stock the 2-packs. It is really hard to get that one last 2-pack that is an exclusive to the comic shops a lot of the time. Not this time around. For those keeping track the four figures in the box set are:
Black Panther
Powered Up Killmonger
M’Baku
Shuri
So, we have 2 of the figures, Black Panther and M’Baku in these 2-packs. But Shuri and Powered Up Killmonger may just be a pair that will require getting this set as well.

Here we go. We will start with the 2 sets that are at both stores, and then look at the exclusives.

First up is Black Panther and M’Baku.

The first pack better have the star of our movie in there. And it does. This is a new armor, or Habit for T’Challa. He comes with M’Baku, who in the comics, wanted to take over Wakanda. So, we will see what comes of this guy in the movie.

M’Baku comes with a long staff. It has a big knot at the end. I am sure he goes around knocking people over the head with it. Black Panther on the other hand, does not use any weapons, so his only accessory is T’Challa’s hair.

The paint apps on BP are really well done. The suit is a really dark grey, and then there are black and silver apps, plus white eyes added.

Killmonger and Ulysses Klaue:

Well, isn’t this a pair. This is a set of bad guys to be sure. Killmonger looks like he wants to be Black Panther. Erik Killmonger’s family was kicked out of Wakanda. Erik will come back to exact revenge on T’Challa. As for Klaue, we know him from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Last time we saw him, he was selling missiles to someone before Ultron showed up to make a deal with him for Vibranium. When Klaue started to mouth off, Ultron cut off his arm. It seemed to be an accident, as Ultron could not grasp the idea of how fragile the human body really is.

Since he had Vibranium (same stuff as Captain America’s shield), and the only place on earth to get it is in Wakanda, there was a strong tie of Klaue to Black Panther even before Black Panther showed up in Civil War. Since Klaue lost his arm, it looks as though he got an upgrade of sorts. His prosthetic arm separates into two parts to allow a weapon (sonic device) to be used. This is in connection to the comic Klaw who has a sonic weapon for a hand.

Killmonger comes with a hair piece. This is a great hair piece unlike anything I have seen in the Minimates lines before. Klaue comes with a second arm where the prosthetic is in the closed position with lines that show where it could open.

Dora Milaje Nakia and Okoye (TRU EXC):

The Dora Milaje are the bodyguards of the King of Wakanda, and potential wives of the ruler. Nakia comes with a pair of ring blades. She is a spy for Wakanda and travels the world. Okoye is the leader of the Dora Milaje. She come with a spear that is said to be nearly as sharp as her tongue.

So with that, we have 2 of the members of the Dora Milaje. We did not get Ayo, who talked to Black Widow in Civil War and said, “Move or you will be moved.” A tough lady for sure. Hopefully we will get some more Dora Milaje later on, maybe in a Infinity Wars pack or something.

Tactical Killmonger and Casino T’Challa (Walgreens EXC):

I don’t know what is going on with Killmonger’s outfit at this point, but I cannot wait to see what transpires to have a guy in tactical military clothes with a crazy looking mask, and two swords. Killmonger also comes with a hair piece. More on the face in a bit. In the meantime, T’Challa is looking sharp in a printed suit coat.

Everett Ross and Powered Up Black Panther (Walgreens EXC):

Everett Ross was introduced to us in Civil War, like Black Panther. Martin Freeman was quoted as saying about Ross, “you don’t know whether he’s good or bad, so you’re not quite sure which side he’s on. It looks a little bit like he’s playing one game when actually he’s playing another.” It will be interesting to see what role he plays in the movie. Maybe he is still hunting for Bucky, who happens to be sleeping in a cryotube in Wakanda. He comes with Powered Up Black Panther. We have a regular Black Panther, and now he gets Powered Up. He was a lot for Cap and Bucky to deal with when he didn’t have extra abilities. He is going to be a handful for the bad guys when he gets mad.

There are the three faces of T’Challa. I am really glad they didn’t just give us three of the same heads. The Black Panther head looks placid, while Powered Up looks mad. Casino T’Challa is somewhere in the middle.

And since we are looking at 3 T’Challas, we should look at the 2 Erik Killmonger heads. Unhappy and “What are you talking about.”

This is a great set of figures. There is a nice wide range. A couple of bodyguards to go along with all of the Panthers. A lot of bad guys to play with too. And I will reserve judgement of Ross for which side he is really on.

We are back in Marvel Legends with another go around from the Guardians of the Galaxy. This time to go along with Volume 2. In the standard that we are currently seeing from Habro, we have a number of movie figures and a string of comic figures to go with the theme.

Rocket and Groot:

One of the best pairing from the first movie again makes waves as we look at Rocket in a new costume, and a young Groot.

This version of Rocket still looks like he has a bad attitude. This is helped with a hinged jaw and two guns that fit well in his hand. Rocket is not a big figure, but the details are outstanding on his outfit. And little Groot looks great too. Maybe we will see a teenage Groot in Infinity Wars. Fingers crossed for an emo Groot.

Gamora:

Gamora is not a big win for me. I did not love the first version, and the second version does not bring me much joy either. I think it is because I LOVE the design of the comic version of Gamora, and it is hard to make a live-action related to that.

The face sculpt is really well done. Hasbro has been nailing the face sculpts for the most part.

Along with a large rifle, Gamora also comes with her sword, as well as a second version of her sword that folds up and fits in a holster/sheath.

Nebula:

I was so happy to see Nebula make it back into Volume 2. I thought there was a lot of depth to the character that we had not yet seen… and we didn’t get a figure the first time around either.

Her outfit is really cool looking with the two tones of purple, with the black and some shiny and some matte. There is a lot of detail going on there. It goes along with the rest of her body, a great head sculpt and a fantastic metal arm.

She comes with a small blaster, and a second arm. That replacement forearm is a bit creepy, and it looks great.

Star-Lord:

Oh good, just what we need… another Star-Lord. How many is that now? This time we have Dr. Who Star-Lord. I am not a big fan of the face sculpt on this one. We have gotten a few really good versions in the past.

We don’t get a masked head, but boy, we get a scrap of black plastic. Hmmm. Kind of a letdown this time around.

Star-Lord also comes with his twin blasters, but boy this is a hard one for me to like, since we have had a few good ones in the past.

Adam Warlock:

Adam Warlock is the first of the comic figures. They gave us a painted buck with a skirt and fat belt, power effects, and a pair of heads. This is not a terribly exciting figure.

The alternate head is actually quite amazing. It adds to the dynamics of the figure and makes him way better. And the purple skin is really well done.

Ex Nihilo:

Ex, who now? I have no clue who this guy is. And I don’t really care all that much. In the past, there have been strange out-there figures that have come around in the later part of the Marvel Legends waves that I really wanted to know more about.

This guy, not so much. He is gold and has a black symbol on his chest. And he has some crazy asymmetrical horns. That is about all I need to know.

I do actually love the gold paint. It really shows off the great sculpting of the figure.

Mantis (BAF):

Take the build-a-figure part from each of the figures and you end up with Mantis. Easily one of my favorite parts of Volume 2.

She looks fantastic in her black and green. The colors of her outfit are really well done. She has her movie accurate hair and the big black eyes.

It is hard to say it is worth it to have to get 6 figures, just to build Mantis. She is great, but she is also a small figure. We had Hit Monkey back in the day that was a small guy, but there were only 3 figures to collect in that wave. This one you had to collect 6 of the 7 figures to get this BAF. I skipped Death’s Head II. I will probably pick him up on clearance on Amazon.
He looks a lot better than Ex Nihilo. And it was a redo of Rocket, Gamora, Star-Lord, and a couple of unknowns. So, I am not impressed overall. And that is hard for me to say, I LOVE Marvel Legends. Thankfully, there are some really good waves coming up in the very near future.

I don’t play around in the 12 inch scale a whole lot. The good figures tend to be really expensive, so I shy away from them for the most part. But when something like Black Widow goes on a deep sale at The Disney Store, I jump all over that kind of deal.

She is pretty much all I have seen that is left from the Ultimate Series of figures. I don’t know a lot about her, but overall I am pleased with her.

She comes in a cloth outfit that has a zipper in the front. She comes with a set of stun batons that are nicely colored. She also comes with 3 guns (2 handguns and a rifle). There is also an alternate set of hands.

The outfit looks nice. It fits well and has a really good looking material. The holsters do not stay in place when playing with her, and moving her around for posing.

She has a pair of gauntlets that we have seen her use before to shock an assailant. Unfortunately, the bracelets have blue electricity shooting out of them, and it does not look very good when she is holding her guns or just standing there. I might have to cut off the electricity.

She has really good range of motion with good articulation, and fabric that lets that articulation work. If you have a pose you want her in, she can probably make it.

I am a bit skeptical about her being a $34.95 action figure. She is nice, but I have trouble thinking she is $35 nice. There are a lot of really good quality accessories and the body is well done. I got her for $20, and I think that is a GREAT deal for this figure. I checked the DisneyStore.com website, and now they are going for $14.99. A steal.

If you are a fan of Black Widow, or want a good set of clothes and guns, you might want to head over to your local Disney Store or get online and pick her up.

We are going to end the Man-Thing Series of Marvel Legends with looking at the last three comic book figures, Blade, Bullseye, and the Build-a-Figure himself, Man-Thing.

Blade:

Blade is the comic representation of the figure. Putting him in this lineup is pretty darn thin. He had a meeting with Punisher once.
*shrugs* There were a lot of people wanting the Wesley Snipes movie figure, but I figure they may be getting around to that now that Marvel is part owner of the entire world. He comes with a really interesting outfit. Wooden stakes on a bandolier around his chest, paired with a sheath for his sword. And he has silver darts around his thigh. So I guess he can take care of vampires AND werewolves alike.

He comes with two heads, each sporting a different haircut. The face of the two heads is the same, with a goatee and red sunglasses. If you were going to go to the trouble of making a second head, at least make it an interesting change…like with our next guest.

Bullseye:

What a great figure to have in this series. Bullseye is a long standing badguy against Daredevil. And there is a very iconic image of Bullseye killing Elektra with her own sai.

He comes out of the package with throwing knives effects attached to his left hand. I am not a big fan of the effect hands. Hasbro did it with Captain America, and I didn’t like it a whole lot that time either.

A quick switch of hands, and he has two grasping hands. One for his knife, and one for the gun. We have seen this particular gun floating around for a while now.

There is a holster for the gun, as well as s sheath for the knife. That is a nice added bonus as we seem to have a lack of weapon holsters in a lot of the figures.

And THAT is how you do an alternate head. No mask, and a crazy look on his face. Add in the pointing gun finger, and you have a great crazy guy going on here.

What a threatening motion. I am sure against Blade, he would be losing that hand very shortly.

This is a comparison of the two Bullseyes. The one on the left is the new version. On the right is the ToyBiz version from 2005. Boy was that an ugly looking dude. There was very little that was right about the 2005 version, but they did do a good job with the outfit.

Man-Thing:

Time to Build-a-figure. 6 parts come together to form a swamp monster. Debuting in May 1971, just a few month before DC came out with Swamp Thing. It seems funny that they would both come out with a swamp creature at almost exactly the same time. I actually prefer my “Thing” in the “Swamp” form rather than the “Man” form, but there is something endearing about the strange face of Man-Thing.

I don’t know how he is connected to the rest of this wave, and I am pretty sure Hasbro could have come up with a better BAF to fit in with the rest of the figures, but this is what we have. And I like him.

The textures are very well done. He is definitely of the swamp, with all of the vines growing all over his body.

He is nice and big, standing nearly 2 heads taller than the rest of the wave. I love that face.

Well, there we have it. The Man-Thing series, or the first of the Netflix Defenders waves. It doesn’t look like Marvel Legends is going to slow down anytime soon. Black Panther figures are set to drop, and then there is a wave of Spider-People coming from the comics, so lots and lots to look forward to. I will have to go backwards a bit. I had a bit of a harder time getting my hands on those figures initially, so I am a series backwards. Lots of other great stuff coming too. Power of the Primes is in full swing with the Transformers, and I have a few Star Wars ships to look at too. Not to mention new Power Rangers Legacy figures are starting to leak out very slowly.

We will take a look at the ladies of Netflix, Elektra and Jessica Jones. Yesterday we looked at the men of the series, Daredevil and Punisher. These two may be smaller, but they are two very tough ladies.

Elektra:

A part of Daredevil Season 2, she came back in Defenders Season 1, to make a nice segway into the later figures we should be seeing from the Defenders team.

Elektra comes packaged with a mask covering her face. The black and red looked great on the screen, and it looks good here too. She comes with two sais. The shape of her hands allows her some interesting holding positions for her sais, way better than just holding them straight. We saw her use them in Daredevil Season 2, and they are an important part of her story in The Defenders.

She also comes with an unmasked version of her head. It is a very good likeness of Élodie Yung. The movie/TV figures continue to get better and better head sculpts. Now if we can only take care of the shiny skin, we would be all set.

Jessica Jones:

Now THAT is a likeness of Krysten Ritter. Boy how I wish the figures weren’t so shiny, but that is a part of the process I guess.

There is not a lot going on with the figure. It is great to see some plain clothed figures, and Jessica fits the bill. She is mad about having powers, and is really an anti-hero, who has the role thrust upon her. So of course she mocks the characters who do wear costumes (lookin’ at you Daredevil). The outfit is perfect, with the leather jacket over a black shirt, and the tight jeans down to the boots. She does not come with any accessoires, but other than a liquor bottle or a glass, she doesn’t really have any tools that she uses. I guess they could have given her a camera. Ah, that would have been a great accessory. A camera with a long zoom lens. Boo! Now I am going to have to find or make one for her.

This is a great couple of ladies to put out first. Elektra from Daredevil, and Jessica Jones from her own show before going head to head in The Defenders. If there is something that Netflix has done right (and there is a lot that they have done right), it is the great strong female lead characters. I am hoping we will get Karen Page, Claire Temple, and of course, Colleen Wing.

So far so good. We have three figures left that are all comic figures. Can the rest of the wave stand up to the great start? We will see.

Today we are going to take a look at the men of the Marvel/Netflix series Daredevil. Hasbro is working their way toward giving us the 6 inch versions of the Defenders. They are starting with characters built around Daredevil and expanding from there. That seems only right, as Daredevil was the first and breakout hit of the Netflix attempt at making Marvel shows on a digital platform. And then we were introduced to The Punisher in the second season, which got a lot of hype and his own series. So, we will start with these guys, and then move onto the women of Netflix, before moving on to the comic figures in this wave.

Daredevil:

I was hooked from the first episode. I HAD to binge watch that show. So when it was announced that Hasbro was bringing out Daredevil from the show in the Legends line, I was ecstatic.

What we got was just about perfect. The realism that Hasbro has brought to the Legends movie figures carries over here. There are so many small details in the outfit, from the straps, to the textures in the fabrics used.

He comes with gripping hands that allow shim to use his billy clubs. He also has a set of fists, which he really needed because he goes around punching people much more than using the baton.

Punisher:

The Punisher came around in season 2, and boy did he make a splash. Many knew Jon Bernthal from his time on the early episodes of The Walking Dead. It was going to be a toss-up if people were going to be on his side after being an antagonist on TWD. But he was greeted with open arms. He was like an exposed nerve ending for both the viewer and Matt Murdock. Matt had to come to terms with how similar he was to The Punisher, and had to look internally and decide what he wanted to be as a hero.

This figure of Frank Castle comes with a trench coat, and his telltale bulletproof vest painted with the white skull. We saw that chest again at the beginning of Punisher Season 1, before he sheds if for most of the season, thinking that his time of being The Punisher was over. The vest will return, but not the overcoat.

Hasbro did a really good job with the likeness of Jon Bernthal, from the haircut to the 5 o’clock shadow. He even looks pretty banged up, which is how he seems to spend his life now.

He comes with two guns, a black assault rifle with grenade launcher, and a silver 45. The rifle needs a strap, and the handgun needs a holster, but other than that, nice weapons to add to his arsonal.

I am very happy with the first two figures in the Netflix series. Up next we will look at the women. They turned out equally as good.